U2 frontman Bono once risked his life with a jaw-dropping climb undertaken so he could sing to the crowd from the top of a lighting rigging.
The singer’s stage antics as the band performed Electric Co at the Torhout Werchter Festival in Belgium in July 1983 beggared belief.
Turns out, though, that his fans did not have to worry. He’d be fine.
After all, he’d had plenty of practise climbing around the Caird Hall in Dundee.
The four Dubliners were in Dundee in 1983 as part of their tour to promote the War album, the band’s third.
They had performed some dates in 1982, after the album had been recorded, but the Dundee show, on February 26, was the first one in the War tour proper.
As they were trying out their new material, this would be the one and only time they would ever play track Like A Song on stage, so it was a bit of a Dundee exclusive.”
War was released on February 28 1983 and would go on to knock Michael Jackson’s Thriller off the top of the UK chart and become their first UK number one album.
Our review of the gig stated that “a simple but effective light show, and the energy and hard work of lead singer Bono, soon had the audience dancing along”.
The reviewer added: “Old favourites Gloria, Surrender, Out Of Control and Animal Farm, plus a balcony balancing act from Bono, were all enthusiastically received by the boisterous crowd.”
GG from Retro Dundee said: “I remember popping along to Da Vinci’s for a quick pint before meeting up with my mates in the City Square for the concert.
“So after my refreshment I was making my way into the town centre and as I was passing the Angus Hotel, lo and behold, there was U2 getting into their minibus, ready to be taken to their gig.
“I very nearly shouted over to them to give me a lift but I managed to restrain myself.
“If I had had another couple of pints inside me I may very well have been telling you about the time U2 drove me to their show.
“This Dundee gig was the very first date on this ’83 tour.
“On the back of the stage they had a huge image of their War album cover.
“Bono was quite hyperactive on the night, pacing up and down the stage, waving the white flag, clambering about on the PA stacks and even managing to reach the balcony at one point while still singing.
“As they were trying out their new material, this would be the one and only time they would ever play track Like A Song on stage, so it was a bit of a Dundee exclusive.”
Bono may have got lucky with his aerial antics but, years later, The Edge would prove himself to be not so fortunate.
Quietly minding his own business, not tempting fate with an ill-advised ascent, he still managed to fall off the stage – The Edge misses the edge – during a 2015 concert in Vancouver.
He couldn’t even have been told to stick to the day job – because he was playing the guitar when he took a tumble.
The Edge – real name David Evans – is a self-confessed Stuart Adamson “fan” who liked both The Skids and Big Country.
“I was a fan of his both as guitar player and as a man,” he has said.
“He was a great inspiration to me when U2 were starting out.”
UAWIL 114 is live!
40 years ago @U2 released their 3rd album War with worldwide hits New Years Day & Sunday Bloody Sunday
This is the album that set them up for superstardom
We review the record, b-sides & how this broke them in the US: https://t.co/sBwvfZROOs#u2war pic.twitter.com/E9v3GJUNME
— The Ugly American Werewolf in London Rock Podcast (@ugly_werewolf) February 2, 2023
Shakespeare tells us that all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players, something Bono seems to have adopted as his frontman’s credo from the very beginning.
His leap from the stage into the crowd at Live Aid in 1985 was a memorable moment in an electrifying performance, as he slow-danced with a fan and displayed his aptitude for the theatrical gesture.
He is the ultimate showman – James Brown meets Mick Jagger – who called The White House and left a message for President George W. Bush while on stage.
This fondness for drama can be seen in the band’s early days, as he swung around the Caird Hall like the Spider-Man of Finglas, the audience thrilling to the music of what happens.
Entertaining though he may be, Bono’s superpowers don’t let him see into the future.
He told the Caird Hall crowd, after the band performed Party Girl, that it was the song’s “first, and probably last” performance.
It has gone on to become U2’s most performed B-side, being played around 200 times.
The lengthy War tour would lead to a concert film, Live At Red Rocks, and an accompanying EP, Under A Blood Red Sky, both of which would amplify the band’s presence and increase their appeal.
The album contained classics like New Year’s Day and Sunday Bloody Sunday.
“We wanted love and anger,” The Edge would say. “We wanted a protest record, but a positive protest record.”
War turbo-charged their ascent to rock’s summit and while he may have looked down from his Dundee perch, from this point on Bono and the boys would not be looking back.
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